Forget About Me
by Rena2462
Summary: An One Piece AU where they must attend high school. Ko is new to Dawn Island High where she meets the excitable Luffy and his set of friends who will ultimately change her life forever and set her on a whirlwind path of adventure, love and heartache in a world that she can't control and with a past that keeps coming back to haunt her. Zoro x OC
1. Chapter 1

**Part One**

Chapter 1

I walk down the winding road surrounded by other kids all walking out from the village to the school. I glance around at all the other girls with their gathering of friends. Some of them glance at me and whisper to their friends, I hear their giggles as they talk about me. It doesn't surprise me, I've never fit into any of the schools I've been to before. I move schools quite often, this is the first school I've been sent to with a promise that I'll be there for a while. My parents move around a lot. But I'm not staying with my parents for a while, a family friend called Makino offered to let me stay for a while.

School has never been my thing. I'm not really one for rules. The other schools always kicked me out for something, my attitude, my clothes or my hair. That's why I never fit in either, everyone thought I was weird for avoiding short skirts and low cut tops and favouring skinny jeans and tshirts. They thought I was a freak because I like to dye my hair weird colours and could never stand sitting still. I can feel these girls thinking the same thing, black hair laced with red highlights does stand out, but it doesn't matter I'm used to it.

I see the school building up ahead, the grey, dull concrete uninviting and kind of daunting. It looks like any other, all professional and kind of like a prison. A skinny boy with black hair and a straw hat runs past shouting loudly, a tall boy with bright green hair being dragged behind him. Maybe I'm not the only weird one attending this school.

I walk through to the neat reception, filled with plants and paintings all in their proper places. It's the kind of room where you don't want to touch anything. I ask the woman sat behind the desk for my schedule. The woman offers me a sweet smile and shoots off to fetch it from the printer. A girl with long wavy blue hair walks in, saying hello to the staff at the reception. "Hey," she says smiling at me brightly, "I haven't seen you before are you new around here?"

"Yeah it's my first day," I say, slightly returning the smile.

"I hope you like it here, if you ever need someone to talk to you can come find me," she says kindly before bouncing off into the other part of the school building.

The smiley receptionist comes back and hands me my schedule and a map of the school building. _Is everyone here super smiley,_ I think to myself as I look at my first lesson. Maths. _Great my favourite… not._ I walk around the corridors, all the kids whispering as I walk past.

I find my maths classroom and the teacher allocates me the seat next to a girl with bright orange hair and light brown eyes. I slide into my seat, ducking my head as I get my things out of my bag. The teacher starts writing on the board and I struggle to pay attention already, the numbers on the board seeming to merge with each other. "hey I'm Nami," the orange haired girl says to me, distracting me from my day dreaming.

"Hi, I'm Ko," I reply, offering her a smile.

"So, you're new here right?" I nod. "Have you just moved nearby?"

"Yeah I just moved to Foosha village."

"Where did you come from?"  
"I've lived in a lot of places, not really for long enough."

The teacher calls our attention back to the front of the class and I get lost in the numbers and letters on the board. Algebra will never be my thing.

At the end of maths I pack my stuff up slowly, waiting for all the other students to rush out into the corridor. I feel someone tug on my sleeve and I turn to see Nami and the girl sat next to her with jet black hair and blue eyes smiling at me. "What lesson do you have next?" Nami asks me brightly.

"uhm, science," I say quickly scanning my schedule, "room 12b."

"Me and Robin will take you there if you want," she says grabbing my arm and dragging me out the door without giving me a chance to reply. I was swept into the crowd that pushed down the corridor, Nami keeping a tight hold on my arm and Robin following behind me chuckling slightly at my wide eyed expression.

I get pulled through the sea of swarming people and dropped off outside my new classroom. Waving good bye to Nami I duck into my next lesson, smiling to myself at the craziness of this school. _Maybe it won't be so bad here afterall._

"Ahh you must be the new student, welcome welcome, we're doing an experiment today, let's see who can I put you with," he ponders as he looks over the class. I keep my gaze down, not wanting to make any awkward eye contact. "Ah yes I think I'll put you with Luffy and Zoro, they'll show you what to do." He ushered me off to the back of the classroom. I sit down next to the green haired boy and the skinny black haired boy from this morning.

"Hey, I'm Luffy," the black haired boy grins at me, the smile stretching across his whole face.

"I'm Ko," I can't help but smile back. The green haired boy doesn't say anything, just looks straight forward with a slight frown.

"He's Zoro," Luffy says, pointing at the green haired boy. He nods his head in my direction and I nod back.

The teacher brings out the equipment on a trolley. Luffy runs to the front and brings back what we need. Luffy starts connecting the tubes to some flasks haphazardly.

"Uhm, Luffy are you sure that's right?" I ask hesitantly.

"Of course it's right," he says confidently. I glance sidewards at Zoro who's having a nap on the desk. Luffy pours the solutions into the flasks and turns on the little box that sets the experiment off. The two solutions mix into one big flask and start fizzing. _That really doesn't look right._

The chemicals exploded and the force knocked Luffy back, who knocked into me, who fell onto a sleeping Zoro which isn't much softer than the floor, Luffy still sat on top of me.

"Oi what do you think you're doing," Zoro shouts pushing me off him so I land on the floor, knocking the breath out of me. Luffy laughs from his place on top of my stomach. I groan and push Luffy off so I can sit up.

"Ugh Luffy what the hell was that for!" I growl pushing myself up off the floor and dusting myself off.

"That was fun we should do it again," Luffy laughs.

"No we should not," I object. The teacher makes us stay behind in our break to clean up the mess.

"Luffy I'm going to kill you," Zoro grumbles as he sweeps the floor covered in broken glass and black soot.

"I'm hungry," Luffy moans flopping onto the floor.

"It's your fault we're stuck in here," Zoro brushes around him. I stay quiet, just trying to clean up the table as quickly as possible.

"Ko do you have any food?" Luffy asks from his spot on the floor.

"Nope, and if I did you wouldn't be getting any," I say scrubbing hard at the table.

"Did you and your parents move nearby?" Luffy asks sitting up, seeming to forget his hunger.

"I did, I moved into Foosha village."

"Your parents didn't come with you?" Luffy asks curiously, Zoro glancing at me out of the corner of his eye. I pause my cleaning for a moment.

"No," after a moment I pick up the cloth again and continue cleaning the table, "my parents can't really stay in one place for very long."

I finish cleaning the table, pretty proud with how well I did it considering I'm as useless with a sponge as I am with maths. Picking up my bag I head towards the door calling back over my shoulder, "see you later boys," and merging into the crowd of people in the corridor.

I didn't get very far before the bell for the next lesson rang out. _Dammit,_ I try to suppress my growling stomach. My next lesson is English which I'm not too bad at. I walk through the door and spot Nami sat three rows back with free desks either side of her, as the teacher looks around the class she calls and pats one of them. Surprisingly the teacher lets me go and sit next to her rather than placing me in the other free desk across the room.

"Ko good to see you. Oh we have lunch after this, want to join us, my friends won't mind," she blabbers cheerily at me.

"That would be great, I'm starving," I say, my stomach grumbling loudly backing up my claim. Luffy bursts through the door, the teacher moaning at him for being late and telling him to get to his seat. Luffy flops down in the chair on the other side of Nami, placing his face on the desk and moaning about being hungry.

"Luffy this is Ko," Nami introduces us.

"Oh Ko it's you again," he says peeking up at me, not bothering to lift his head off the desk.

"You've met?"

"I was in his science lesson," I explain, shuddering at the memory.

"Oh I feel so sorry for you," Nami says placing a hand on my arm with no hint of sarcasm. _I guess she must know what he's like._

The teacher calls our attention back to the front and we stop talking.

* * *

 **Welcome to my new Zoro x OC fic. I'm really excited about it. This fic will be split into three parts. I've been working on this fic for about 8 months-ish and I've just finished part one (100 google doc pages woah go me). It's by far the biggest fic I've done and I'm not even finished yet. I hope you enjoy ^.^**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Nami and Luffy take me to the cafeteria at lunch time, my stomach growling profusely at the smell of the food. I sit with Luffy and Nami on either side of me and tuck into my food, calmly at first but then when I see the way Luffy attacks his food I forget about manners or appearances and just stuff my face with as much as possible as quick as possible.

As the cafeteria starts to fill up I feel eyes boring into my skull from around the room, everyone wanting to get a glimpse of the new girl. I tone my eating down just a little bit, not wanting to embarrass myself too much, unlike Luffy next to me. I make eye contact with the people staring at me who quickly avert their gaze.

"Robin, look who I brought with us," I hear Nami call cheerfully and look up to see Robin and Zoro walking over with their lunches.

"Hello again Ko," Robin smiles at me as she sits next to Nami.

"Hey Robin, I hope you don't mind me joining you," I smile back at her.

"No, no not at all. It's nice to see you again."

"You too."

A loud voice belonging to a boy with jet black hair and freckles across his cheeks interrupts our conversation, "Oi Luffy, who's your new friend?"

"Oh Ace, this is Ko," Luffy says around a mouthful of food as the boy called Ace stands at our table.

"Well, Ko it's nice to meet you. I've been waiting a long time for a girl like you to come along, you're just my type," he winks at me flirtily.

"Well you're going to have to wait a little longer," I say smirking at him, "nice to meet you though."

A blush spreads across his cheeks and his friends taunt him. I almost feel bad for the guy. A guy with blonde hair walks past, placing his hand firmly on Ace's head and dragging him away, "stop making a fool of yourself Ace."

"Sabo~," Ace whines as the blonde boy drags him to a table at the other side of the cafeteria.

"Yo, everyone, who's this new chick?" I loud and brass voice calls as a tall boy with blue hair and a crazy chin and bright blue hair sits down next to Zoro. _Man I seem to have chosen the crazies. I'll fit right in._

"I'm Ko," I say smiling and offering him a wave from across the table.

"Nice to meet you, Ko, I'm Franky." A boy with an incredibly (unbelievably) long nose sits down on the other side of him.

"And I'm Usopp," he says butting into our conversation, "the people around here call me cool guy Usopp."

"I'm sure they do, nice to meet you Usopp, and you Franky," I reply trying to hide my laugh at his dorky introduction that was quite clearly a lie.

Two more people join us and the table is full. A lanky, blonde boy sits opposite me, his eyes seeming to turn into hearts as he sees me and he hasn't stopped gushing since he sat down. His name was Sanji I think. The other boy was called Brook. He was the year above us and has a huge afro which I was very impressed with. He's the only older year to sit with us, even though they were friendly with quite a few of the older year groups, Nami had explained to me.

"Ko-san what lessons do you have after this?" Sanji asks, his eyes still seeming a little strange.

"Uhm, music and home economics," I say checking my schedule.

"Ahh I will be in your home economics class, I can't wait," Sanji gushes.

"Lucky you Ko, Sanji is the best cook," Nami says looking genuinely jealous.

The bell rang for next lesson all too soon and everyone splits off into smaller groups heading off to our classes. I walk into music, quietly taking a seat in the corner of the room, feeling the eyes of the other students on me.

"Right everyone, quiet down," a smiley teacher with dull red hair tied up into a bun on the top of her head says, "we have a new girl in the class, Ko. So we're going to put off our performances for this lesson, so go about your usual practising. Ko you're welcome to perform next lesson but we don't expect you to."

The class goes off to do their own thing, collecting instruments and gathering in groups to whisper about me instead of practising. I notice one girl on the other side of the room who seems to be the only other person no talking to someone. I get out of my chair and walk towards the teacher, asking for a guitar. I sit down back in my place to play my music and go into my own little world, pretending like no one is whispering about me.

At the end of the lesson I wander down towards the home economics room, feeling a little peaceful. My peaceful wander is disturbed by a flying Sanji (well almost flying) who started fussing over me as soon as he saw me coming towards the room.

The other students were cooking during this lesson, but Sanji kindly offered to let me help him, but it rather seems like him showing off while I just sit and chat with him. One thing's for certain, Sanji is very skilled when it comes to cooking. Nothing I could ever do in my entire life would look as good as the food he serves up.

At the end of the day, Sanji walks me out of school, chatting to me as if we'd been friends longer than just one day. If there is anything I can say about the people I've met today then it would be that they've made me feel more welcome than any place I've ever been to before.

Luffy comes barrelling up behind us dragging a bored looking Zoro, Ace and the blonde boy (possibly named Sabo) gently strolling up next to them. "Hey Sanji, hey Ko, do you have any food?" he asks. _Does he know that we've just been making food, or is he just hoping?_ Sanji keeps his food hidden away to stop it being devoured by Luffy.

I say my goodbyes and slowly make my way into Foosha village. I walk the small streets of the little village, into the back of Makino's bar. I trudge upstairs to place my bag in my room before heading down to the sparsely packed bar and saying hello to Makino.

"Hello Ko, how was your first day?" Makino asks smiling at me as she wipes down the counter surface.

"Good, I met lots of interesting people," I reply hoisting myself up to sit on the bar, swinging my legs a little.

"Any new friends?"

"Maybe, I met this really crazy boy named Luffy and I sat with him and his friends at lunch."

"Ahh, I know Luffy, he's a good kid. He used to live down here in Foosha village before his grandfather moved him up to live with the other boys on the mountain."

Makino throws me a broom and I make myself useful by sweeping the floor, helping out Makino at the bar for the rest of the night as it slowly fills up with men looking to get drunk.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

The next day arrives and I sluggishly pull myself out of the comforts of my bed and slowly stumble off up the little windy road to school. I snooze through the first lessons, only really waking up enough to pay proper attention when it's lunch time and I'm scooped up by a storming Luffy, along with Franky, and sweeped into the lunch room.

I sit down next to Robin and a sleepy Zoro flops down next to me. "Man you two look like the walking dead," Brook comments from the other side of the table. Zoro grunts in response and I just sigh.

"Eh, it seems like we've just got a girl Zoro," Nami sighs to herself.

"I'd like to think I'm not that bad," I protest meekly earning a short sidewards glare from the man in question.

"Of course, you're nothing like that shitty marimo Ko-san," Sanji calls, his eyes doing the weird heart-like thing again.

The conversation moves on and I push my tray back from the edge of the table, making room for me to rest my arms on the surface and drop my head down. I watch the others from my resting place, picking at the food in front of me. Slowly I feel my eyes drop, and unable to open them again, I drift off into sleep.

* * *

"Look Ko's asleep," Robin points out.

"Ahh, so cute, she looks just like an angel when she's asleep," Sanji blabbers.

"Oi that's no fun. Ko, hey Ko wake up," Luffy shouts. Standing up when she doesn't respond, he walks around the table to shake her awake.

* * *

I feel a pressure on my upper arm and my body kicks into action, clenching my fist and curving it up to hit the person gripping me. My eyes snap open to see my fist collided with Luffy's face. "AHH SORRY!" I shout in panic. He takes a couple of steps back and rubs his head.

"Don't worry about it, it's all good," he says shuffling back to his seat at the table. I look around at the shocked faces all staring at me, even Zoro looks surprised.

"Ko remind me never to wake you up," Franky jokes, lightening the mood. I throw him a grateful smile and laugh along with the others.

"Hey, Ko where did you learn to throw a punch like that," Usopp asks. The others look at me expectantly and I wonder how much I should tell them.

"Well, I seem to attract trouble," I say, offhandedly.

"Yeah, you're right. That's how you landed in with us lot," Nami jokes.

The conversation dissolves and I resist the urge to go back to sleep despite my tiredness. I pick at my food, trying to pay attention to the jokes. In my absentminded state, I fail to hear the bell go for next lesson. Luffy grabs me by the shoulder as he runs past, dragging me to science class. He sits me down between him and Zoro as the teacher starts the lesson.

Zoro almost immediately falls asleep, titling his head back and crossing his arms. Luffy is bored before the teacher even says one word and alternates between picking his nose and interrupting what the teacher is saying to ask some kind of stupid question and never really getting the explanation. "Oh, so it's a mystery," seems to be his favourite phrase.

As the teacher sets us some work and sits down at his desk, I catch him looking curiously at the sleeping Zoro. I kick Zoro's shin lightly but he doesn't wake up. I kick again, harder, and he shoots upright, sitting up straight in his seat glaring at me, "oi what was that for?" I wordlessly nod my head towards the teacher who is still staring at Zoro. "Oh, thanks," he mumbles, "if he'd caught me again I would be in so much trouble."

I turned back to my work, not realising that the seat on the other side of me was empty until I heard a loud crash. Trust Luffy to cause trouble on a lesson where we're just answering questions from a book. I look towards the sound of the crash. Luffy had managed to knock over a row of beakers left over from last lesson and they had all smashed into smithereens on the floor. The teacher sent a still laughing Luffy down to the head teacher's office.

"That kid," I sigh to myself.

"He's a real idiot right?" Zoro agrees as he leans forward to rest his elbows on the desk next to me.

"Yeah, I don't understand how he can cause that much trouble," I shake my head still looking at the empty doorway he disappeared through.

"Well, Luffy is Luffy. He's certainly original. Don't worry you'll get used to him."

"I'm sure I will, I don't think it will ever stop surprising me though."

"It never does," he chuckles.

Zoro frowns at the work in front of him and grumbles, "I don't see why I have to learn this shit, I'm never going to use it anyway."

"You never know what might come in handy in a way you don't expect it to," I tease him, laughing as he glares at me.

"I don't need this stuff, school is utterly pointless! I would much rather be at the dojo," he growls.

"At the dojo? You do sword fighting?" I ask curiously.

"Yeah, I use Santoryu and one day I'm going to be the greatest swordsman," he say passionately. I look deep into his eyes and see the determination and drive.

"Yes you are," I reply quietly, admiring his spirit in my head. He looks shocked. I guess everyone must tell him to be realistic, adults are always like that.

The bell rings and I look away, packing up my things slowly and wandering out of the classroom. "Hey wait!" I hear Zoro call behind me and I turn to see him walking quickly towards me. "Aren't you going to tell me that I can't do it?"

"No, I believe you can, I can see it in your eyes," I say, causing him to frown more and I turn and hurry off to my next lesson to avoid being late.

I stumble into my music lesson and take my seat. The teacher settles everyone down and starts us off performing. I'm left till last and given the option not to perform. Most people probably would take the option to sit this performance out, but instead I pick up a guitar and start strumming the song that I was practising yesterday…

Zoro's class had ended early and he was sauntering down the corridor, enjoying to peacefulness of not having to deal with pushing and shoving on his way home. He walks through the music department, hearing the most wonderful song being played from one of the classrooms. Noticing that one of the doors was open, he creeps closer and peeks around the door. He takes a small, sharp intake of breath as he realises that it's Ko who's singing. Who knew she had a voice like that, wow. One of the girls in the class notices he's standing in the doorway and raises her hand to point at him. He ducks out of sight, quickly skimming down the corridor and out onto the roads.

After my music lesson, the looks the people in the class gave me turned from pitying and judgemental to jealous or admiring. I walk out into the road alone and make my way back to Makino's bar where I help out just like last night.

The men that I met in the bar were not the nicest kind of guys, but they could have been a lot worse. Makino's bar is quite popular for such a little thing and we often get visitors from the surrounding villages who are not as nice as our local residents. I serve the men their drinks and try to ignore the way their glances linger on the curves of my body.

As I was busy serving drinks and clearing up glasses, I didn't notice the door swing open. As I turn around I see three unexpected familiar faces sat at the bar chatting with Makino. Makino motions subtly to me as she talks and I bring the glasses back behind the bar.

"I believe you already know my lodger, Ko," Makino says playfully as I put the dirty glasses down and turn to her as I hear my name being called.

"AH Ko! I didn't know you were staying with Makino," Luffy chirps brightly. Zoro gives me a weird look and Ace's face lights up a bit as he recognises me from the cafeteria.

"Yeah, makino kindly offered to let me stay here while I finish school," I say quietly, not mimicking Luffy's enthusiasm, but smiling lightly.

"Hey beautiful, can I get a refill over here," a man calls from the other side of the room, his eyes looking me up and down as the shouts. The smile falls off my face, but I keep my expression blank as I make my way towards him with more of the sake he's already had too much of. I ignore his glances at me as I pour some into his cup and I quickly turn around, nodding my head politely at his compliments.

Just as I reach the bar again and place the pitcher of sake down, I hear another shout from the other side of the room asking if I would refill theirs too. I sigh and go to pick the pitcher back up but Makino's hand beats me to it and I throw her a grateful smile as I sit down at the bar next to Ace.

"So your name's Ko, I'm Ace," he says politely which I really wasn't expecting.

"Nice to meet you Ace," I say politely in return.

"Oi I still haven't forgiven you for what you said in the cafeteria," he says sternly, giving me a glare.

"Even if you don't believe me, it won't mean that it's not true," I say smirking. He grimaces but holds his tongue.

"You've got a hell of a bite, that's for sure."

"Don't worry, I don't bite to kill," I say playfully. I catch Zoro giving me another weird look and I give him a confused look back.

"So, we're just friends, damn," Ace mutters to himself and I chuckle.

"Hey since you're friends with Ace now you should come with us this weekend, we're going to camp out in this tree house we built with Sabo when we were kids. Everyone's coming!" Luffy babbled excitedly.

"Oi what about Chopper?" Zoro mutters, thinking I can't hear as he smacks Luffy's arm.

"Well I heard that so I'm sure she did," Ace laughs and Zoro goes a little red.

"I trust her enough to meet Chopper," Luffy says smiling brightly at Zoro who sighs and turns back to the bar, muttering to himself.

"Well what do you say?" Luffy asks expectantly.

"If you're sure it's okay that I go…"

"Of course it is!" Luffy cheers. I smile back hesitantly wondering who Chopper is and why they would be so worried about me meeting him.

"So you guys built a treehouse when you were younger?" I ask curiously.

"Of course we did, it's our pirate ship, until we go out on the sea for real that is!"

"Pirate ship?"

"Yeah, I'm going to become the pirate King!" The way Luffy's face lights up when he says that makes me smile. I see the same determination and drive in his eyes as I saw with Zoro. _These guys are certainly something._

"And Zoro and the others are going to be on my crew. You should be too!" Luffy's cheerfulness starts to catch on and I find myself nodding and agreeing to join the future Pirate King's crew.

"Ahh Luffy why do you get all the cute ones," Ace sighs as he watches the exchange. Luffy just laughs and stays his usual bright and upbeat self.

"Anyway I should get back to work I'm supposed to be helping Makino," I say sighing and standing back up.

"Why do you let them look at you like that?" Zoro says grumpily.

"It's no use starting a fight when they're not being overly intrusive," I say looking blankly around the room.

Zoro's eyes flicker with an emotion I can't place and I turn around returning to wiping tables and filling glasses. Luffy and Ace left an hour later leaving Zoro drinking a large cup of sake and staring at the patterns on the wooden bar. He finished his glass and looks at me as I stand in front of him holding the pitcher of sake.

"Aren't you going to fill it up?" He smirks at me.

"Are you sure you haven't had enough?" I ask frowning.

"Just fill it up," he grumbles. I sigh and lean over the bar to fill up his glass. I catch his eyes wandering down to my cleavage and i flick his chin.

"Eyes up Zoro," I say smirking a little. He blushes and mumbles his apology, clearing his throat and looking away. "So, Luffy's going to become Pirate King and you're going to be the greatest swordsman. Does everyone on the crew have a crazy ambition?"

"Pretty much," he grunts chugging his sake. He smacks the empty glass down on the table and motions me to fill it.

"I'm not your slave, what's the magic word?" I tease him.

"Can I have some more please?" He mumbles his cheeks a little pink.

As I lean over and refill his glass Zoro makes sure he keeps his eyes up. His eyes lock with mine and we don't break eye contact, even after I've filled his glass and put the pitcher back down on the bar. Our gaze locks and neither one of us moves or looks away. While a small part of my brain tries to tell me that this is weird, my body is paralysed by his blue eyes that stare at me intently. I don't count how long we stare into each others eyes for but we're interrupted by Makino walking past telling me to start to close the bar.

I shift uncomfortably and turn away, packing up the bottles and the glasses and preparing everything for tomorrow. I go to the emptying tables and start clearing away the dirty glasses. I feel someone behind me and I turn around, straight into Zoro's chest. I stumble back a little and look up surprised at how close he was.

"I'll see you at school," he says looking down at me with those intense eyes again.

"I'll look forward to seeing your hangover," I smirk up at him. He lets out a low growl from his chest. A chest that was still very close to me. Without another word he turns and walks out of the bar and into the dark. I shake my head as I realise I was staring after him and go back to clearing away the glasses, unable to shake the thought that Zoro was acting weird.

* * *

 **minko007: Thank you! ^.^ I'm so happy you like it!**

 **A/N: I wanted to be a little faster at my uploads with this story but I get so distracted with school and work, but I'll try my best! I'm also aware that Zoro can be slightly OOC and I tried my best to correct it but at the same time he's younger at this point in the story so try to forgive me.**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

The next day I'm scooped up as I'm walking slowly up the road to school. An excited Luffy pulls me along the road, bounding around like an over excited puppy. As Luffy drags me up to the front door I notice that Zoro, Nami, Robin and Usopp are all gathered around the door already. I follow them all inside and down the corridor that leads them to the principal's office. They stop a couple of doors before and walk into a small room filled with medical supplies and equipment.

They all gather in a rough semicircle around the desk and Luffy pulls me up into the middle of the semicircle smiling at me brightly. "Ko, this is Chopper," Luffy says pointing to the desk chair where a little reindeer sat looking at me nervously.

"A REINDEER!" I say shocked.

"A reindeer she called me a reindeer instead of a tanuki," Chopper mumbles happily to Usopp who still looks a little on edge.

"KAWAII," I say smiling and crouching down in front of his chair, giving my friendliest smile.

"Don't think that complimenting me will make me like you, bastard," Chopper says doing a little happy dance. I laugh brightly and pick him up, cuddling him and stroking his soft fur.

"See I told you it would be fine," Luffy laughs as I cuddle Chopper. The others seem to relax a little as they look at Chopper laughing, I guess not many people react like this. I suppose people would find him weird, afterall there's not many talking reindeers around these parts. "Chopper's studying medicine and he's going to be the doctor on our ship," Luffy explains still chuckling.

"Awesome!" I cheer enthusiastically.

The bell rings for first lesson and we file out of the room leaving Chopper to get back to his medical studies. I follow Nami and Robin down the corridor to our maths class and we take our seats.

"So you're coming with us this weekend right?" Nami asks excitedly.

"Yepp," I say popping the 'P'.

"I can't wait, I never usually get the chance to go out much," she fizzles with excitement and I can't help but catch on.

"It's going to be so much fun," Robin laughs.

"I'm kind of nervous, I'm still kinda new here," I turn my head away slightly, biting my lip.

"Don't be nervous, you fit in so well with us," Nami smiles encouragingly.

"Yeah everyone really likes you," Robin supports.

"you're right I'm being silly," I say grinning and shrugging off my nervousness as much as I can.

* * *

The weekend came quite quickly. We all met in Makinos bar so that no one would get lost in the forest (cough Zoro cough). They all sit around the table talking excitedly. I glance over all the people. Luffy, Zoro, Nami, Robin, Franky, Sanji I all knew pretty well because I had lessons with them. Brook, Chopper, Ace, Sabo, Usopp I knew very briefly from our discussions in the cafeteria or from going to see Chopper with the others before school. A small amount of nervous anticipation grew in my stomach as I sling my small backpack over my shoulder. I'm preparing to spend a weekend with these people what's it going to be like?

As I walk across the bar to their table they start to stand up and get ready to leave now that everyone's here and everyone's ready. We start the trek up into the forests and out of the village. I walk with Nami and Robin, chatting freely as we walk. Sanji sometimes checks in with us to make sure we're okay, and we assure him that we're going to be fine.

The thick green forest is alive with all kinds of animals. As I walk I wonder what it must be like to live out here permanently and I get kind of jealous of Luffy, Ace and Sabo who must get up to so much mischief and adventures out here. The boys forage ahead a little while us girls and Sanji take things a little slower.

The boys had already taken over the treehouse by the time we emerge into the small clearing in front of it. _Wow they built this when they were kids? Very impressive._ I climb up the ladder and emerge in the small room. Everyone being gathered in here makes it very cozy. I place my backpack down by the pile of bags the others have made and I slide down against the wall in a gap between Sabo and Zoro.

"Weekend in the tree house!" Luffy cheers and his usual contagious excitement catches on and I catch myself smiling along with the others.

"I don't think we've properly met, I'm Sabo," he says to me as the others start to argue about what we should do this weekend.

"Nice to meet you Sabo, I'm Ko," I smile back.

"So, you're joining Luffy's crew. Good luck."

"Thanks I'll probably need it."

He laughs and we turn our attention back to the other's discussion. Luffy's listing all the things we should do, some seeming very dangerous, making Usopp and Nami turn very pale. We settle on going hunting to settle Luffy's growling stomach. We all stand, the others picking up various weapons and we drop down to the floor of the forest.

"Hey are you sure this is safe?" Sabo questions Luffy as his feet thud onto the soft grass.

"What are you talking about we always do this," Luffy cocks his head to the side.

"I'm referring to the new member of your future crew, she doesn't seem to have a weapon are you sure she can fight?" Sabo gestures towards me.

"You just stick to worrying about yourself, I'll be fine," I interrupt their discussion.

"Of course you will," Luffy shouts, his signature grin returning, "YOSH! LETS GO!"

We all start to walk into the thick forest of Mt Colubo. I find myself walking alongside Zoro, three swords strapped to his hip which he rests his hands on ready to draw them at a moments notice. _I'll get to see Zoro fight. Let's see if he really will be the man to defeat Mihawk._ Luffy sings some kind of song about islands and idiots as we walk.

"You've really not brought a weapon?" Zoro asks me.

"I don't really need one," I say smiling at him.

"You don't need a weapon?"

"Nope. Why do you sound so surprised, Luffy doesn't have a weapon."

"Luffy has a kind of a weapon, he ate this thing called a devil fruit they…"

"I know what devil fruits are," I interrupt, "but even if Luffy didn't have a devil fruit he could fight right?"

"yeah," he sighs and gives up.

I smirk a little knowing that I won the argument. As we continue to walk down the path the back of my neck prickles and my senses go into hyper-alert. I stray a little closer to Zoro and throw my elbow into his ribs. He gives a startled yell but I interrupt his complaining, "shh, something's following us, if we're not careful the hunters might become the hunted." He frowns and tightens his grip on his swords. We both slow a little, allowing ourselves to fall to the back of the group.

I hear a rustle behind us and I turn. Zoro draws his swords as the large tiger emerges quickly out of the forests. The others shout in surprise from behind us but me and Zoro are ready. I tense my muscles, gathering up my strength and take a running jump towards the tiger. Zoro runs along the floor, holding his swords up and ready. The tiger takes a large snap at me as I go past just under it's jaw and grip a handful of its soft fur. I swing up and onto its back running up and over its shoulder, distracting it as Zoro cuts at its legs. With a roar it drops sidewards, I grip fur in both hands to survive the fall. In anger it uses its other paw to claw after Zoro. I jump and spin, tucking my leg up and then throwing a harsh kick out which hits it on the nose. It's head falls back a little and it growls in annoyance.

I land on the floor as the others start to attack. Ace and Sabo flank the tiger, raising their metal poles. Usopp fires his sling shot, distracting the tiger to let them slip around the sides. Luffy throws back his arm and it extends. _Woah what kind of devil fruit is that?_ 'Gomu gomu no pistol' and his arm flies forward, his punch hitting it across the side of the face. Ace and Sabo attack, bringing down the tiger.

"YAHOO! WE DID IT!" Luffy cheers throwing his arms in the air. We quickly build a little camp in the forest and Sanji cooks us some tiger. Zoro plops down next to me with his food. "I thought you said you could fight well, but I didn't see anything worth noting," he smirks at me. I bite my tongue to stop myself from saying the horrible words that are on the tip of my tongue. "What, no reply? I thought you told Ace you have bite?" His teasing voice makes me bite my tongue harder.

"I don't say things if I think it will actually hurt people," I say quietly, my mouth filled with blood from biting down on my tongue.

"I can take it, I thought that's what we did. I thought we joked around with each other," he questions and I feel him starting to get annoyed with me.

"We do, but there's a difference between joking and taking a dig at someone's dreams," I say finally raising my voice a little and looking in his eyes. His eyes widen a little and he turns back to his food, keeping quiet.

Brook slides down on the other side of me with his food. "Hello Ko, it's nice to meet you properly. May I see your panties?" I upper cut Brook, rolling my eyes. He falls backwards off his perch and Zoro gives a short chuckle.

"Okay, maybe you know how to throw a punch," he smirks at me, glancing out of the corner of his eye at me.

"You bet I do," I smirk back, and the atmosphere relaxes around us as we fall back into our usual playful teasing.

After we finish eating, I join Nami and Robin and head back to the treehouse. A pale looking Usopp runs after us once he finds out that Luffy wants to go find a bear or something. When we're back in the tree house Nami starts up some girly chatter to me and Robin.

"Maybe I should have gone with Luffy and the others…" Usopp whispers and I pat his shoulder sympathetically. While Nami and Robin chatter about clothes and going shopping when we get back, my soft side decides to entertain Usopp with a game of Roshambo.

A green head appears through the hole in the floor as Zoro climbs up the ladder.

"Where are the others, I thought you went with them?" Usopp questions.

"They got lost," Zoro grumbles sitting down and leaning against the wall, placing his hands behind his head. I roll my eyes at him returning to our game of Roshambo. We've been playing for about an hour and both me and Usopp have been getting quite competitive although I'm winning (of course).

"AGH! Why can't I win," Usopp shouts in frustration.

"Sorry, you're playing against the Roshambo master," I smirk at him as he wails and clutches his head dramatically.

"The Roshambo master?" Zoro snorts raising his eyebrow quizzically.

"Yes, don't hate on me because you're jealous," I smirk as I turn myself to look at him.

"Jealous?" he questions.

"That's right, you're jealous of my Roshambo prowess," I lean back slightly as I tease him, sitting straight and acting all high and mighty.

"Like I would be jealous of you," he scoffs, "I doubt you're even that good."

"Is that a challenge, Roronoa Zoro?" I say emphasising the sounds in his name. He grunts and shuffles over to me, holding out his fist in preparation. I win and he hits the floor in frustration. He glares at me as I laugh at him. "What were you saying Zoro?" I tease.

He growls at me and sits back in the corner of the room, sulking. Usopp declares that he will defeat me and we continue our Roshambo competition. After a short while Usopp surrenders, declaring me ultimate Roshambo champion. I flop backwards so I'm lying on the floor with my arms lying limp either side of my head.

* * *

 **Please review, favourite and follow if you are enjoying the story, I'm trying to keep up with the updates.**


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

I hear a whoop and the sound of something flying through the air just before a searing pain leaps across my stomach as something large hits me. I look up to see a grinning Luffy lying across my stomach holding his hat and saying loudly, "man that was close."

"Luffy," I growl through gritted teeth. He looks down for the first time since he magically flew in through the window.

"Oh, sorry about that Ko," he cheerfully stands up and I hear the others chatter as they start to climb the ladder up into the treehouse.

I shuffle to the corner of the room and try to rub the ache out of my stomach as the others file into the room. Once everyone has filled into the small room and settled down, Brook pulls out a beautiful acoustic guitar and strums once. My eyes light up as I wait for him to play something. Brook seems to notice as he smiles at me.

"BROOK PLAY SOMETHING!" Luffy cheers as he grins and throws up his arms into the air.

"I think Ko-san might want to play something," Brook says as he passes me his guitar. I look at him questioningly and he nods in encouragement. I look at the slightly confused faces around the room.

"Okay then, Ko PLAY US A SONG," Luffy cheers. I think for a moment before deciding on which song I should play.

I strum slowly, taking down the tempo of the song and I start to sing along:

"yohohoho~ yohohoho~

yohohoho~ yohohoho~

Binkusu no sake wo

Todoke ni yuku yo

Umikaze Kimikase namimakase…."

Brook joins in, knowing the song and matching my speed. His voice echoing me own gives me a little more confidence to keep going, feeling like it takes some of the attention back off me.

As I draw to an end of my song I look around at all the faces watching me and I clear my throat, ducking my head so that they can't see my blush. I hand Brook his guitar wordlessly, keeping my head low and my eyes down. There's a short silence where no one says anything and it feels like there's a weight pressing down around me, slowly taking the air out of the atmosphere.

"Wow Ko that was so cool," Luffy says with a twinkle in his eye. "I love that song."

"You have a good voice," Zoro says unexpectedly and I blush harder.

"I didn't know you played guitar Ko," Franky comments.

"That was so beautiful Ko-swannn," Sanji gushes at me.

"Thank you, everyone," I say looking around the room and blushing. My eyes rested on Zoro who looked up, catching me unaware. We stared at each other for a moment before I clear my throat quietly and look away.

Brook starts to play for us and I tap my foot along to the rhythm enjoying the music with everyone else and singing along with songs that I recognise. At some point during the evening we crack open some big barrels of sake and we spend the night, eating, drinking, singing and sometimes even dancing together.

As people start to pass out or doze off in the corner, the rest of us clear the centre of the room and lay out some blankets. After pulling Usopp, Luffy, Ace, Sabo and Franky onto the blankets I lie down next to Nami and pull one of the spare blankets over myself. Robin lies down on the other side of Nami and they start up some girly gossip.

As everyone starts to find a place to sleep on the blankets, Sanji comes towards me crying, "Ko-swann I'll keep you warm tonight." Before I could object the space next to me is filled as a green haired man lies down and pulls a blanket over himself. Sanji tries to start a fight but in the end Nami tells him to shut up and go to sleep so he finds his own place on the blankets.

"Thanks I owe you one," I murmur to the swordsman, knowing he can hear me even though he has his eyes shut. He just smirks a little in response and dips his head. I pull the blanket up tight around my shoulders and close my eyes, drifting into a nice sleep.

* * *

 _The floor underneath me rocks violently as the ship struggles to stay afloat in the stormy waters. I run through the hallway, making my way out onto the deck to help with the fighting. I hear cannon fire and the ship shudders as it takes the damage. I fling the door open and stumble out onto the deck, trying not to slip on the water covering the floor from the downpour of the storm. I grip the handrail as the ship rides a large wave. My feet slip a little as I tackle the stairs, watching the pirates fight my crew._

" _Ko what are you doing I told you to get back inside," my father calls as he spot me trying to stand upright on the slippery deck. I ignore him, pulling out my knife so that it's ready if one of the invading pirates attacks me. I slip and slide across the deck, ducking in between the fights. I see him across the deck, fighting off a broad, hairless pirate. I pick up speed as I head towards him, feeling compelled to help my best friend of 13 years. Two men grab his arms and fold them behind his back. The broad man hits him hard, blood dripping from his nose and his lips. The other men pick him up and drag him across back to their own ship._

" _JUN!" I shout as I follow them, leaping across to the deck of the other ship suddenly filled with vigor and adrenaline. He looks back over his shoulder as he's pushed through a doorway. I run as fast as I can after him, slipping a little as the boat rocks precariously. I hear a thud behind me and see some of the pirates land back on the deck of their own ship, following me. Behind them, my father is climbing the railing and jumping across. I turn my attention away from him as I reach the door they pulled him through._

 _As I burst through I take in the scene. The men stand there holding Jun to the ground while another is loading his gun. "Oh, come to save your friend?" one taunts as he spots me in the doorway. A man I didn't see before clicks the safety off his gun and holds it to my head. My body freezes as the cool metal presses against my temple. The man loading his gun holds it up towards Jun. He slowly clicks the safety off, taking the time to smirk back at my horrified expression, frozen in place and unable to move. My mind in complete shock, screaming in my head for them to stop but no words leave my lips. The cool pressure of the barrel of the gun halting my thoughts._

 _The man turns back to Jun. In the back of my head I hear my father's voice calling my name. I watch the man aim for Jun's forehead. The cold touch of the gun disappears from the side of my head and somewhere I am aware of my father's voice and his warm touch on my shoulders. The man places his finger on the trigger and pulls it back. The loud bang echoed through the room and I see blood starting to pour from a circle on Jun's head as his body goes limp and falls the the floor. "JUN!"_

* * *

I snap my eyes open, jerking away from the floor and panting as I sit, taking in my surroundings. I'm not on that ship, I'm not in a storm, my father is not here, and Jun is already long dead. I swallow, pressing my face into my hands and slumping forward.

"Ko?" a rough and groggy voice asks my name as a question as the green haired boy sits up next to me. "Ko what's wrong?" His eyes look over me and I know what he's seeing. My pale and sweat covered face with wide eyes staring back at him, my breathing rough and uneven.

"Oh nothing just a bad dream," I try to say evenly but my voice wavers and a frown forms on Zoro's face as he looks at me intensely. Under his intense stare, a tear leaks out from my eyes and runs slowly down the side of my face. Another one follows and soon I can't see through the streams of tears that leak out of my eyes. My breathing chokes up into sobs that rack my aching chest.

I turn my head away, not wanting Zoro to see my like this. With my face buried in my hands I feel a warm hand on my shoulder, rubbing soothing circles. I look up in shock, not expecting any sympathy from the likes of Zoro. His face shows concern as he shuffles a little closer and gently places his arms around my shoulders, almost like he's not touching me. I lean into his chest as the sobs shake my body again. His arms tighten around me, offering me comfort.

After a short while, my sobs die down and my eyes dry up, running out of tears to cry. "Sorry Zoro, I soaked your shirt," I say quietly, my head still resting against his chest.

"Don't worry about it," comes his rough reply, his voice still laced with sleep. His hands rub up and down my shoulders soothingly. I pull away from him and rub my eyes with the back of my hand. He lets one arm drop but keeps the other tightly on my shoulder and gives me a gentle tug as he lies back down.

I follow, laying on my side so I can see Zoro's face. A stray tear runs out of my eyes as he watches my face. Shuffling a little closer, he places the arm that was on my shoulder around my waist comfortingly. I close my eyes and feel myself drifting to sleep, feeling better that I can feel Zoro's arm around me.

* * *

 **A/N: please review and follow if you like the story, I'm trying to keep updates regular but I'm in my final year of school and I find myself so stressed and preoccupied but I was talking with my friend who was writing and it inspired me to post. Hopefully my conversations with her will push me to update more.**


	6. Chapter 6

**I'm sorry for disappearing. I don't know how many people are actually reading this story but the review from janebarrera1 made me want to at least update it once this holidays. Thank you for reviewing it means a lot to me. I really want to continue updating this story, but for now I am way too busy, I'm supposed to be working right now but I wanted to update this. I will definitely come back to this, I loved writing it and I miss writing a lot but I'm going to put this on hiatus. (that's the important part so you can skip to the chapter while I continue making excuses and stuff if you would like)**

 **I'm currently in my last year of school/a levels and its so stressful I can barely keep up, and I have a part time job that I work at 24 hours a week so I barely get any time to relax anymore. School will be over by the end of June so I will definitely be back then, I may update every so often now and again. I don't want to leave this story for so long but I have to. I know you'll probably forget about this story by then but if you stick with me it will mean so much. Anyway I'll stop rambling now. I'm sooo soo sorry.**

* * *

Chapter 6

I wake early in the morning, no one else is up yet and the sun is just starting to rise. I look at Zoro's sleeping face and slowly lift his arm from my waist. _what would they think if they woke up to find us like that?_ I sit up and carefully tiptoe through the sleeping bodies to the window where I look out across the tree tops to see the sun slowly climbing into the sky.

I turn my head when I hear groaning. Sabo pulls himself up, holding his head in one hand. "Ugh I shouldn't have drank that much," he moans to himself. I laugh and he jumps, not realising I was there.

"Sorry I didn't mean to scare you," I say still chuckling slightly. He just groans and drops his head back onto his pillow.

As the others start to groggily come around from sleep to the cruel reality of an awful hangover, I climb down the ladder and land on the soft, damp grass. I look up at the way the sunlight flickers through the branches of the trees as it rises into the sky, getting lost in my thoughts about my parents and Jun. I don't hear as heavy feet land on the grass and walk slowly up behind me, watching me as I think of all the sunrises I watched from the crows nest of the ship with my family and my friends.

"Who's Jun?" The deep voice calls suddenly. I whirl, to see the green haired swordsman behind me.

"How do you know that name?!" I demand loudly, glaring at the green boy who looks a little taken aback.

"You said it before you woke up last night.." He says still a little confused. I wince and look away, hesitating before I reply.

"He was my best friend.." I say quietly looking away into the forest as my mind wanders back to those days.

"He's not anymore?" He asks a small crease forming between his eyebrows.

"No he... He's dead," I say looking down at my feet like they suddenly became very interesting.

"I'm sorry," he says his face suddenly softer than before. "I lost a friend when I was younger too, and I made a promise to her that I would be the greatest swordsman." I can't help but smile a little as I see that determined flair spark up in his eyes.

"What was her name?" I ask quietly, slowly walking closer.

"Kuina," he says in the same manner.

"She'd be proud of you," my voice comes out as a whisper.

A pained look crossed Zoro's face and I immediately fumble for words in my head to take it back. Before a sound can leave my lips, I feel a strong grip on my hand. I look down in shock for a moment, looking at our intertwined hands like it was an alien. I glance up at his face as he looks across into the sky. He swallows hard and I shuffle forwards a little, about to lay my head on his chest.

"Zoro! Ko! Breakfast!" Luffy calls down the tree, making me jump and take a flinching step back from Zoro, realising what I was about to do. I clear my throat a little and walk straight past Zoro and climb the ladder, joining the others gathered in a large circle to eat. Zoro sits down in the gap between me and Robin, neither of us saying anything to each other.

As the meal went on, we gradually relaxed and things became normal again. I laughed at the jokes and we shared stories for a while before Luffy decides that it's time we all went on an adventure. I'm pulled from the tree house as Luffy flies past in his haste to get outside. I land with a thump a couple of meters away from where Luffy landed and I watch the others climb down the ladder with jealousy.

Luffy sets off into the forest and I slowly trail behind him dragging my feet and slouching. "Cheer up Ko, it's not that bad," Robin giggles as she catches sight of me. I just groan and sigh, walking a little faster but still slouching.

We wander through the dense forest, pushing or cutting our way through the overgrowth. We climb over gnarled and overgrown roots of the trees. My ankle catches in a stray vine and I fall. Seeing the ground rush towards my face, I throw my arm in front of me to break my fall. A sharp pain sears through my bone as my arm jolts against the floor. I roll, landing on my back in some soft moss.

"Ah Ko fell, call a doctor!" Chopper screams as he sees my fall.

"You are the doctor," Usopp murmurs to him.

"Ko don't worry your knight is here!" Sanji swoons heading towards me. I push myself up with my good hand, cradling the one I landed on close to my chest. I take Sanji's hand and he helps me onto my feet, my ankle aching a little. Chopper rushes over to look at my wrist.

"You've sprained your wrist," he explains as he wraps some fabric over my shoulder in a makeshift sling, "you should avoid using it."

With a sigh I follow the others as we continue our little adventure through the forest. I watch my footsteps and make sure my footing wouldn't slip again. We stop when we're suddenly faced with the rock of the mountain. We all look at it for a moment, as if by looking at it for long enough we can remove it from our path. Eventually Luffy cheerfully decides that we'll climb it. I look up, the top wasn't that far ahead and it wouldn't take us long to climb. I look at the sheer face of the rock and down at my wrist almost comically.

I bit my lip as Ace and Luffy started climbing up the vertical slope. The others quickly followed their example. A green head blocked my view and crouched in front of me. When I didn't do anything he said, "get on." His voice showed his annoyance.

"What?" I replied shocked a little.

"Get on, you can't climb with that wrist I'll take you up," he turned his head to look at me, smirking a little. I only stare at him, still a little confused. "Will you just hurry up and get on, standing like this hurts!" He shouts. Without another thought I hopped onto his back, clamping my legs down on his sides and gripping onto his shoulders. He hoists me into a comfortable position and I let my arms wrap around his neck.

He climbs the cliff face, his strong arms managing to pull both of our weights almost easily against the pull of gravity. As I feel my legs slipping down his waist I clamp down tighter and tuck my feet around his thighs for more grip, feeling my cheeks heat up a little at the closeness.

As soon as he was standing on the top of the cliff, I unwrap my legs and let myself drop. I don't land as gracefully as I hoped I would and end up on my arse. Zoro looks down at me laughing at my frown.

"Oi stop laughing and help me up asshole!" I almost scream at him through my rage and embarrassment. He didn't stop laughing, much to my anger, but he did offer me a hand which I took and pulled myself up, dusting off my behind a little which just made him laugh harder. I try my best to keep some remnants of my dignity and walk past him after the others with my head held as high as I can. Unfortunately, he follows me and catches up to me, still laughing about the look on my face.

I follow as Luffy leads us into the forest, scowling deeply as the green haired boy next to me refuses to shut up. "I wish you could have seen your face, it was priceless," he laughs loudly, only pausing to do an imitation of my surprised face that I apparently pulled when I was on the floor.

"Shut up, like you could have done any better," I grumble, my face heating up the louder he spoke, hoping no one would hear him.

"Oh come on, Luffy could have done better than you did," he teases his voice getting even louder.

"SHUT UP IT WASN'T THAT BAD," I shout back, my face as red as a tomato as I turn my head away after my little outburst.

I try to block out his laughter and teasing as I follow Luffy's little adventure trail. Luffy calls everyone together for bento when he finds a comfortable looking clearing. Zoro's taunting seems to subside at the mention of food and I try to subtly sit as far away from Zoro as possible, sliding myself down onto the grass next to Chopper.

"Ko, how is your arm?" Chopper asks as I sit down.

"It's good thanks, doctor, must be your brilliant skills," I smile at him, chuckling slightly when he blushes and dances and calls me an asshole.

After a long and tiring walk back I collapse onto the floor of the treehouse and wrap myself up in a blanket and take a nap in the corner of the room. I wake to a loud insistent grumbling sound. Slightly opening one eye I look up to see a green haired swordsman snoring loudly next to me. Looking around the rest of the room I find the others enjoying some fun and games.

"Ko! You're awake! Come play with us!" Luffy cheers. Shuffling across the room, still wrapped tightly into the blanket I ditch the swordsman and join into their game of cheat. Nami won the first game, bluffing her way out of all her cards easily, Usopp lost as everyone but Luffy and Chopper could see through his lies. Luffy didn't seem to get the point of the game as he just told us the cards he was putting down instead of lying about what he had. We play a few more times, each one having a similar outcome.

As the sky starts to glow orange from the falling sun, Luffy decides that we should go out on another adventure and get some more meat. All of us climb down the ladder and tread through the undergrowth, looking for animals. I let myself fall behind to the back of the group, still tired from my earlier embarrassing falls.

"Ko are you okay?" Chopper asks checking over my wrist.

"I'm fine," I say but the group looks at me doubtfully, "really, I am. Lets just keep going." Luffy doesn't need telling twice and we continued on our little adventure, but I don't miss the watchful eyes from concerned people around me. The others catch some food which Sanji cooks up for us.

Sanji brings me a plate of steaming food and I sit on a nice soft patch of grass and lean back against the tree, placing the dish in my lap so that I can eat with one hand. Zoro sits down next to me with a thump. He lands a little too hard and a little bit of his food drops into his lap. I try to stifle my giggles unsuccessfully. He glares at me as I laugh uncontrollably. He throws a weak kick at my legs which I avoid quite easily, but the message is clear and I try to stop my laughter.

"Are you alright?" he asks after a small moment of silence.

"No it was just too funny," I say cracking up again. He knocks me with his elbow and makes me spill some of my own food. I start to laugh harder at the irony and Zoro's chuckles join with my own. As our laughter dies down Zoro turns to me, a piece of meat in his hands, and he holds it up towards me, a small smile on his face.

"Sorry, that was my fault, do you want some," Zoro smiles at me, holding the meat closer to my mouth. I hesitate before gently taking the meat between my teeth. I look down immediately, sensing the tension between us.

"Seriously, how are you?" he asks, returning to eating.

"I'm alright, you don't have to worry about me," I say with a small reassuring smile.

"We're going to be nakama right? I will worry about you," he protests. Just the thought of nakama makes my heart squeeze and my stomach churn. Nobody has ever called me nakama before. I can't stop the wide smile that spreads across my face. I smile wider to see a similar one on Zoro's face too.

After our meal we walk back down from the mountain, going back to our normal lives. We all drop in back at makinos bar as it starts to go dark. The others take up residence on a large table away from the rowdy, drunken men, as I head towards the bar to drop my things back in my room and fetch some drinks for us.

"Ko, you're back! How was the trip?" Makino asks as I dump my bags behind the bar.

"It was great, thank you. I had so much fun!" I grin at her, unable to help myself. I grab a large pitcher and fill it with sake. I grab some Tankards as I pass them and take the empty seat on the table. When everyone had filled their Tankards with sake we raise them in a toast.

"To more adventures!" Luffy shouts raising his sake. "KANPAI!" We cheer and knock Tankards together before drinking deeply.

Nami, Robin and Chopper leave first with Sanji who volunteered to escort them home. Franky, Brook and Usopp leave together next before Sabo drags a slightly drunk Ace and a sleepy Luffy back home. I stay drinking with Zoro until late and the bar was empty.

"Zoro-kun, where do you live?" Makino asks coming over.

"A couple of towns over, I stay with the sensei at the dojo," He says, slurring slightly.

"That's such a long walk, you should stay here tonight. Besides we're closer to the school for the morning anyway," Makino says, clearing away the sake and leaving us at an empty table as a hint.

"Oh, no I really couldn't do that," Zoro slurs his eyes half-lidded.

"I insist, you can stay on Ko's floor, I'll lay out lots of blankets for you," Makino says as she leaves, giving Zoro no chance to object.

"Come on, Zoro," I say as I stand up unsteadily and stumble after Makino. I grab my bags from where I left them when I arrived and slowly climb the stairs to my room. Makino had already been and put down a small pile of blankets for Zoro to sleep in. I stumble into the room dragging Zoro behind me. He drops down onto the blankets and makes himself comfortable.

After a small moment of lying on my bed, I call out, "ne, Zoro?"

"Hmmm? What?" He says his head appearing over the side of the bed as he looks at me.

"You don't need those blankets, come on, it must be uncomfortable down there," I croon, pulling Zoro into my bed before he has a chance to object.

"Oi, Ko," he starts as he lies there limply as I cuddle into his side. I reach my hand up and cover his mouth, hushing him. After a moment's hesitation, I feel his arm curl around me and I drift off to sleep, a small smile on my face.

* * *

 **See you in the (hopefully not too distant) future.**


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

I wake to bright sunlight across my face and a gentle rumbling under my head like a miniature earthquake. I feel the warmth down my right side, and crack my eye open slowly. Zoro's sleeping body lies next to me, his arm under my neck and curled to cradle my back close to him. A small smile lights my lips as I think about what I remember from last night, trying to ignore the thumping headache.

I slowly push myself from the bed, my head swimming with white noise at the movement. _School with a hangover, this is going to be fun._ I try to crawl out of bed as gently as possible so I don't disturb him, but his snores jolt and I hear him groan from behind me. I quickly become aware of the position my body is in, my ass facing Zoro, and I try to get up as fast and as gracefully as I can.

"Good morning Zoro-kuuuunn~," I call, hating how loud my own voice is. His glare tells me he hates it too but I continue on just a little quieter, "we have to get to school soon, isn't this going to be fun?" I call back to him as I head to the bathroom for a shower.

I let the warm water wash away all evidence and grime from our weekend out in the forest. After spending as much time as possible in the shower, letting the water relax all my stressed muscles, I dress in the clothes I quickly scooped up and wrap my hair in a towel on my head. I pull the door open sharply and walk right into what feels like a wall. The impact makes my head pound, a side effect from the hangover. I peer through my lashes at the obstacle in my way.

"Oh sorry Zoro, didn't expect you to be there," I say as I rub my head and step around him. He just grunts as he enters the bathroom carrying a pile of clothes from makino who luckily had some spare male clothes lying around. I walk back to my room, ruffling my hair dry with the towel. I sit in front of my mirror and stare at my appearance. I usually don't bother with it much, but on a day like today, when the signs of a mighty hangover are ever present, I always try to do at least something. I slick on some concealer to hide the dark bags under my eyes from lack of sleep, and add the smallest amount of colour to my cheeks with some blusher. I look at the lipstick on my dresser and hesitantly apply the colour, wondering why I am making such an effort with myself today.

I pick up my school bag and close my bedroom door behind me as I leave. Zoro walks down the hallway, his wet hair flopping onto his forehead. The slightly too big clothes covering his body lazily. I can't help but look him up and down and marvel at his physique. For a boy of our age, he certainly has a hell of a lot of muscles.

"Are you ready for school?" I ask, snapping out of my daze as he comes closer.

"I don't think I'll ever be ready," he grumbles and runs a hand through his hair, shaking out droplets. He stands next to me, looking down on me. I see his eyes drop down to my lips and stay there, a strange look passing across them.

"Shall we go?" I ask, smiling up at him. He nods, looking like I just snapped him out of a dream.

I shout my goodbyes to Makino as we head out of my house. Zoro immediately turns and starts walking in the wrong direction. I sigh, and pull him the other way by the back of his shirt.

When we arrive at school, I say goodbye to Zoro and head off to my maths class, wincing at the loud chatter from the other students. When I reach maths class I join a depressed Nami at my desk and press my thumping head against the cool desk.

"It looks like both of you are feeling the effects of last night," Robin says, chuckling lightly at our misery. I wince as the noise of her moving her chair to sit down feels like my brain is being dragged along the floor instead.

"Robin, you seem awfully perky this morning," I grumble quietly.

"Well I've cured my hangover with a lovely cup of coffee this morning," she says, her chuckle biting through my head.

I force myself to sit upright when the teacher walks into class, smiling brightly and talking loudly about algebra or something. I try my best to pay attention, but the lesson seems to be drowned out by the sound of the blood rushing through my ears.

After maths I stumble down the corridors and into my seat for my science lesson. I press my cheek against the cool table top and wince as I hear the seat next to me pull back. Zoro's chuckle fills my ears and I frown but keep my eyes closed and my head down. I flinch as Luffy's loud and cheerful voice enters the classroom. How he has no hangover amazes me. Zoro and Luffy start talking loudly over me. I let out a groan at the pain shooting through my head with every word they shout.

"Are you alright there Ko?" Zoro asks with a knowing smirk and a chuckle.

"How are you not still hungover?" I grumble at him quietly.

"I wasn't that hungover in the first place, I'm not a lightweight like you," he teases, laughing at his own jokes.

"I'm not a light weight and you know it," I mumble, burying my face in my arms.

The teacher starts the lesson and I sit up, resting my head on my hands and trying to look like I'm paying attention. Eventually the sound of the blood rushing through my ears dulls a little, and I manage to keep my head up by itself.

After science Luffy runs off to the cafeteria to get some food, cheering as he goes. I groan internally at the prospect of sitting in a noisy, crowded cafeteria and slowly trail behind after him. A hand pushes gently at the small of my back and steers me out of the crowds all filing down towards the cafeteria line. I look back to see Zoro smiling down at me as he pushes me outside into the fresh air.

"I thought the cafeteria might not be the best place for you when you've got that hangover," Zoro explains as he pushes me towards a bench. I sit down with a thump and wince. Zoro's chuckles make me kick him off the bench next to me which he starts yelling at me for.

"Will you just be quiet," I say, wincing at the loudness of my own voice and covering Zoro's mouth with my hands. I sigh and relax, dropping my head to rest on his shoulder.

I glance up for his reaction and I smirk to myself as I see the pink tinge to his cheeks. I remove my hands and pull back to my side of the bench, letting him cough and try to return to normal colour. Tension fills the air a little as silence fell. I sigh, close my eyes and lean my head back. Taking in a deep breath of fresh air that helps clear my head.

"Are you okay?" he says quietly.

"Yeah, the fresh air helps," I smile at him and look around at the small grassy area in the middle of the school building. I look through the window to my right and see inside the cafeteria, full of loud and laughing students all gathered around eating. Zoro pulls me up by my hand and drags me away again. I try not to consider the way my stomach flips at his touch.

"Hey, where are we going?" I ask confused but still blindly following him out of the courtyard and into the deserted corridors.

"Away from where everyone can see," he murmurs, almost like he's talking to himself instead of me. He drags me to the quietest part of school and sits down on the floor, leaning against the wall, pulling me down next to him. I can't ignore the wild beating of my heart and the almost nausea in my stomach as he keeps hold of my hand while we're sitting there. I straighten out my hand, smirking as Zoro's hand tenses up and starts to move away. I grab hold of it again fast, and interlock my fingers with his.

"Is this what you didn't want them to see, huh?" I giggle, smiling up into his light blue eyes. He shakes his head and wordlessly leans in, resting his forehead against mine. His hand plays with a strand of my hair. "You're so corny Zoro," I giggle at him as I watch him play with my hair from the corner of my eye.

"Shut up," he whispers before he closes the distance between our lips and presses roughly against them. He pulls away quickly, but my mouth follows his and kisses him back. The hand that was playing with my hair grips the back of my neck.

We break apart as footsteps and voices starts coming down the corridor. He pulls me up, smirking slightly and I can't help but laugh as his lips are now the same shade as my lipstick. Before the people come around the corridor he leans his forehead against mine one more time before his hand leaves mine. "You might want to get my lipstick off your face, although I think it suits you," I wink at him before I turn around and walk to my english lesson as the bell rings. I can't seem to remove the giant smile on my face.

"You look better Ko," Luffy calls as I take my seat next to a still depressed Nami.

"I feel better," I grin at him and he laughs brightly.

"What happened? You were worse than me this morning," Nami groans, cradling a cup of coffee in her hands.

"I went to get some fresh air," I say, smiling to myself. Nami perks up as she realises that I'm hiding something but before she can ask, the teacher starts the lesson.

Nami didn't get a chance to say anymore during the lesson, and as soon as it was over, Luffy drags us down the hallways, anxiously wanting to fill his stomach again. As we enter the busy cafeteria, Nami groans and my head starts to hurt a little. We queue up to buy food and Luffy asks for so much the woman on the other side of the counter looks scared that they might run out before Luffy is done.

After I manage to drag Luffy away from the food counter, I join Franky and Usopp who are already sitting at our table. "Hey Ko, how hungover are you?" Usopp asks, looking a little hungover himself.

"Not too bad, it was dire this morning," I sigh as I sit down next to him, trying to ignore Luffy's eating habits.

"How late were you drinking anyway?"

"I have no idea, I lost track of time," I confess with a chuckle.

As the table and the cafeteria start to fill up more, I place a bottle of water against my forehead to soothe the ache.

"Yohoho, are you still feeling hungover Ko-san," Brook chuckles and I throw him a weak smile and a pointed look at Nami a few seats down who had curled up into a fetal position.

"I've still not recovered from hearing Ko-chan's beautiful voice, I can't wait for her to sing for us again!" Sanji croons from across the table. I smirk as Zoro clenches his fist around his chopsticks.

"Yeah, you're a super great singer Ko," Franky chimes in.

"Thanks," I say offering them a smile.

"We'll have to get Ko to sing again soon," Luffy decides. I nod my agreement, immediately regretting it as a sharp pain shoots up the back of my head.

"We sure were surprised when you sang for us," Usopp says, not letting the subject drop.

"I wasn't," Zoro says and we all turn towards him, some people sending questioning glances towards me. "Oh uh, I walked past your lesson when you were singing," he clarifies scratching the back of his head.

The others nod their heads, accepting his answer and moving on with the conversation. I wait for Zoro to stop avoiding eye contact as he shuffles awkwardly in his seat, pretending to be very interested in the new topic of conversation. Eventually he feels me staring at him and looks up his blue eyes show his hesitation and embarrassment. My lips curve into a reassuring smile as I try to calm his nerves from across the table. His face softens and a small pink blush fills his cheeks with colour and I chuckle to myself. _He's so cute when he's embarrassed, that meathead._

I shake my head, removing all the distracting thoughts and returning to the conversation that somehow has seemed to have moved onto Luffy doing impressions of each of the others which are fairly realistic, but I know he's been working hard on them. The most realistic being his Sanji impression, making the whole table fall into fits of laughter. I smile to myself as they calm down, looking at each of them and feeling so happy that I met them.

* * *

 **Exams in less than 5 weeks but I decided to edit this, great life choices, well done me. ^.^**


	8. Chapter 8

**Well, it has certainly been a long time. It feels so weird to be rereading and editing this stuff but here is another chapter, for anyone who still somehow remembers this story. Its so weird how much my writing has changed so editing this was strange. I hope this chapter is good, I've stared at it for too long I'm not quite sure.**

 **Anyway, exams are over so uploads should be more regular, I'm going to try to get another one up by the end of the weekend. ^.^**

* * *

In the evening, I help out with Makino at the bar. There are a few men there from the next village across who like to shout their so called compliments across the room. From across the room I spot a tuft of green and eagerly head towards the drinking boy.

"You would have thought you would have learned your lesson this morning," I tease, coming up behind him. "Drinking again?" He turns to look at me as I lean against the bar next to him. Anger glints in his eyes and his clenched fist doesn't move from gripping his tankard. The men around the bar shout a little again and he flinches. I smirk as I piece together what it is that's upsetting him and I grip his neck and press my lips against his. The men shout their complaints and disappointment.

I feel Zoro smirk and lean in deeper, pressing his lips against mine roughly. I pull away laughing and go back to my job before Makino comes out to see what all the noise is for. "Young love hey, I remember the first time I met my wife," a man calls drunkenly, spilling his sake in his haste to reminisce about his early romance.

"Young love?" Makino inquires with a smile. I just shrug and go back to cleaning tables.

After making my rounds, I sit next to Zoro at the bar. He offers me some of his sake but I shake my head, not wanting to get into the same mess again today. He shrugs and drinks it all down.

"Ne, Zoro.." I start to say, catching his attention. "Do you like me?" I look to the side embarrassed. When I look back, I find him looking at me with heated cheeks.

"I kissed you," he says as if that counts as all the explaining he needs.

"Yeah, but that doesn't always mean people like each other."

"It does to me," he says quietly and I blush much to my embarrassment. After a moment he asks, "do you like me?" I nod and blush harder at his smirk.

I cough and get up to clean up again. As I walk away Zoro wraps his arm around my waist holding me in place. "Come home with me on Friday? I want you to meet my sensei," Zoro asks. I wordlessly nod, getting the feeling that meeting his sensei is important to him. After I make my way around the room and back to the bar Zoro stands up to leave, ducking his head to press his lips against my forehead on the way out. My stomach flips at his brief touch and I watch his back leave until I can't see him anymore.

After Makino closes the bar, I lie on my bed, looking up at the ceiling and smiling to myself. I think about today, it's been a heck of a rollercoaster. I think of Zoro and I smile some more. I think of him until I drift off gently to sleep.

* * *

When I get to school the next morning I can tell that something is wrong. The other students were going about their business as usual, but I could feel the sadness coming from my friends. I see them up ahead all gathered in a group, faces somber, some angry. Ace and some of the other older students are standing with them. I stumble up to Zoro hastily and tug on his arm, "what's going on?"

"Sabo went missing last night, they think he went out to sea. His hat was found washed up on the shore," Zoro explains in a low voice. I look over at Luffy and notice the tears falling down his face. I weave between the others and wrap my arms tightly around Luffy. His head rests on my shoulder as he returns the hug, sobbing. I rub his back soothingly and murmur to him, "it's okay captain, it's going to be okay."

Luffy pulls back sniffling and the blue haired woman from my first day here envelops him into a hug and starts to talk to the others. I see Ace standing off by himself and I walk over and give him a small hug. He smiles at me hesitantly, his eyes bloodshot and his cheeks stained with tears. I pat his arm as I walk away, offering a reassuring smile. When I join Luffy and the others the blue haired girl is telling Luffy and Ace that they can go home. We all join a group hug before they leave.

The rest of us split off into small groups when they're gone. I make my way over to the green haired swordsman and hug him tightly. He leans his head against my hair and I feel his breath move strands. I time my own breathing to his as we stand there. "Hey Zoro, who was that girl?" I ask as we break apart and slowly head into the school building.

"That's Vivi, she's from Alabaster in the grand line, Luffy is going to take her home when we set sail," Zoro explains. I nod. As I sit in lessons I think about how sad everyone must be feeling. i had only known Sabo for a short amount of time. The small pang I feel must be nothing compared to everyone else.

Everyone is quiet at lunch. No one has anything to say. The rest of the school carry on with their usual day, laughing and chatting with their friends. But we are silent, mourning a friend who should never have gone. The teachers don't pick on us in our lessons and when Zoro falls asleep during science the teacher walks straight past as if he didn't notice Zoro's snoring.

When Zoro's snoring gets loud enough that the class start staring, I nudge him awake. "Hey wake up, you're snoring really loud," I murmur to him when he turns his accusing eyes towards me. "He let you sleep for a bit but when you're making noises like that everyone's complaining," I say keeping my eyes forward as I watch the teacher pace back and forth at the front of the class saying something.

Zoro's breath tickles my ear as he leans in to whisper, "you weren't complaining about my snoring the other night." I blush and look around to check whether anyone heard.

"Yeah well that's different," I mumble, avoiding eye contact. He chuckles as he leans back arrogantly in his chair.

"I'm the only one who's supposed to know how cute you are when you're asleep," I whisper into his ear, watching his face turn a little pink. I decide to have a little more fun and plant a small kiss on his cheek. He turns as red as a tomato.

"Ko, Zoro, now is not the time for that. If you want to behave that way, you can do so outside," the teacher calls from the front of the class, looking at us with a look that says ' _I've had enough of you, I can't keep letting you off the hook.'_

"I think we'll take you up on that," I say, taking Zoro's hand and grabbing my bag strap as I turn and lead the way out of the classroom. I feel my classmates stare at our backs as we walk out.

"Oi what was that?" Zoro objects as I continue to lead him away from the classrooms and the watchful eyes.

"It's not as fun to tease you in a classroom full of students," I say as I chose a deserted corridor far away from our science class and lean against the wall.

"Really? You would think it would be the opposite," Zoro muttered, looking around the empty hall.

"No, no! I want that blush all to myself," I say in a teasing tone. He struggles to keep the colour out his cheeks and he tenses up.

I wrap my arms around him, leaning my head against his chest. "Are you okay Zoro?" I ask him quietly, stroking patterns on his back.

"Yeah, I'm going to be okay," he replies, tilting my head up so he can look at me. We lean in and push our lips together in a sweet kiss. One of his hands slides around the back of my neck, keeping my mouth on his as he leans forward, pushing my back against the wall. We kiss, again and again and again, leaning there against the wall.

"Hey what do you two think you're doing?" a teacher shouts down the corridor, "come on I'm taking you to the principal's office." The teacher starts striding towards us, her heels clicking on the cold tile floor. Zoro tugs on my arm and we run out into the courtyard. We sit on the bench, holding hands and I think back to yesterday when he wouldn't even hold my hand out here.

"We're all going to see Luffy after school, are you coming?" I nod, frowning at the thought of Luffy and Ace alone somewhere right now and wondering what on earth they must be feeling right now.

"What do you think happened to him?" I ask, biting on my lip.

"I don't know, maybe he meant to go be a pirate, maybe someone took him," Zoro sighs squinting into the distance thoughtfully.

"Do you think he's still alive?" I ask as the hope bubbles in my chest.

"I doubt it but who knows," Zoro frowns and I feel an ache in my chest as my small amount of hope is crushed.

The bell rings and we start walking back into the school building. "I'll see you after school," he says planting a kiss on my forehead and walking away. I watch his back leave, wishing we didn't have to go to lessons.

After school, I walk out into the forests with Nami, Sanji, Usopp and Zoro. Robin had stayed behind with Chopper while Brook and Franky has to go work.

We walk in silence, lost in our own thoughts and too caught up in the shock and sudden severity of the situation at hand. We walk past the treehouse into a part of the forest that I've never been in. I think back to that weekend. My mind races as I think of the fun I had with them and I think of the jokes I shared with Sabo. I feel a sharp pang in my chest as I realise I will never share those jokes again.

We end up at a small house in the forest. Zoro knocks on the door and then steps back as a big woman with curly orange hair opens it and looks us up and down. She steps out of the door way and lets us in. We walk in to find a room full of depressed men, Luffy and Ace sat in the corner.

We walked past the bandits and greeted the boys, both of whom were having different reactions. Luffy was silently crying to himself while Ace was mad with rage. Sanji and Zoro take the task of trying to calm him down while we gather around to comfort Luffy.

"I'm so sorry Luffy," Usopp soothes.

"He was an amazing person and we'll never forget him," Nami consoles gently. They continue saying the same things people will tell you when anyone you're close to dies. The cliches and the sympathetic words that really mean nothing, how could they? No sympathetic words can help you when you lose someone so close and so precious to you as a brother. Luffy's tears continue to fall and with each word he looked like he might cry more. Zoro and Sanji weren't having much success in calming Ace down and were having a hard time restraining him.

"Both of you, listen up. Is this what Sabo would want? Whether he's dead, or if he's alive, he's not here, but he wouldn't want you to be sad or angry. He would want you to keep on going," I say loudly, making them pay attention to me. "Being angry won't change anything," I say quieter, locking eyes with Ace. "And crying only holds on to your pain," I whisper at Luffy. "It's okay to hurt, you lost your brother for God's sake, but it won't hurt forever. Don't forget your friends! We're here to make sure you don't give up on your dreams!"

Ace's shoulders relax as I finish speaking and I glance at Sanji and Zoro who release him. Zoro gives me a look that says he's proud of me. I look at Luffy who breathes in deeply through his nose and wipes away his tears. He stands and wraps his stretchy rubber arms around me, sniffing deeply to try and keep the tears back still.

We leave after a short while, letting the house full of mountain bandits get back to their grieving. We walk slowly down the path out of the mountains, chatting occasionally about school but mainly remaining silent as we think of the brothers still back in that house all alone. Nami and Usopp leaves first and head down the path to the villages on the other side of the island. Sanji leaves after a lot of fussing and asking if I'll be okay 'alone with marimo' and heads down to the village where the Baratie is docked.

Me and Zoro walk slowly along the path down to our side of the island. In our short silence I feel Zoro's callused fingers interlace with mine. After the short walk to Zoro's turning he pulls me by the hand fiercely and pushes his lips against mine. My body starts to heat up as we kiss more and more. He pulls me closer to him, pressing our bodies together. He licks at my lip and I open my mouth, letting him in. I don't let him explore for long before I start fighting back, pushing my tongue against his.

We pull apart for air. Zoro kisses my forehead gently before releasing my hand and stalking away to his own village. I watch him go, dazed by my lack of oxygen and the feelings coursing through my veins. I can hear the blood rushing through my ears as it races around my body, alive from Zoro's touch. Once he's out of sight I turn to walk down the road.

A broad boy with bright red hair stood smirking snidely at me, "are you sure it's okay to be making out with your boyfriend when Sabo's gone missing? tsch, some friend." I open my mouth and shut it again. The words rushing round in my head. _He's not my boyfriend. It's not bad to kiss him, is it?_ The boy leaves without another word, laughing at my expression.

I huff and start to march home, my head filled with guilt and confusion. _What are we, Zoro?_

* * *

 **Please review and follow and all that good stuff.**

 **So, Sabo's gone. I thought that this needed to be done for my future plans with this story. (although as usual my plans may be a little too big, we'll see) The end bit was kind of representative of my inner turmoil. I get too carried away writing about Zoro. I just can't help it.**


	9. Chapter 9

**A new chapter! does it count as the end of the weekend if it's the end of the weekend after . I'm sorry.**

* * *

Friday came around quickly, Luffy and Ace were back to school within a couple of days and they seem to be feeling better as they are surrounded by their friends support. Both Ace and Luffy personally thanked me for my little speech when we went to see them but I assured them it was my duty as their friend and I was more than willing to do so.

After school on Friday was the meeting. I've been anxious all day, constantly worrying that something will go wrong and his sensei won't like me. Zoro was a little on edge as well, although I got the feeling that there was a little bit of excitement mixed in there too.

Zoro meets me after my last lesson and almost drags me out of the school building. I try my best to hide my nerves as we walk along the road down to Zoro's village, hoping Zoro won't get us lost. Before I know it we're standing in front of the dojo, the sounds of the kids training filling my ears. I look at the place where Zoro has spent many hours growing up, training and conditioning his body to become stronger.

We walk in and I'm immediately surrounded by a sea of young pre-adolescent boys all gathering around my legs. A tall, thin and muscular man with long hair pulled back into a pony tail and round glasses looks over slightly surprised. He takes a moment to look over me, studying me with his sharp gaze and making me squirm uncomfortably. His eyes look at Zoro's hand on my arm and his lips twitch upwards at the edges.

"Who said you could stop training?" The man who I presume to be his sensei says and the boys run back to their places and pick up their bamboo swords to begin practice again. Zoro guides me through to the back door where there is a smaller room full of weights and more bamboo swords. Two boys who look to be a similar age to us are already there.

Zoro pushes me towards the edge of the room and sits me down on a bench. I look up at him questioningly but he just smiles at me in a way I can't object to. He smiles like a child while playing, his face excited and happy. I watch as he turns away from me, tugging his shirt over his head and revealing to me the strong toned muscles of his back. He chooses a large weight from the rack and starts working out. I don't take my eyes off him as I watch him work up a sweat. Seeing each of his muscles contract and relax with each lift. My mind swims with teenage hormones in a way I have never experienced before and my body starts to heat up a little while watching him.

I'm briefly aware of the other students working out too but my eyes never leave Zoro even for a second. My body aches to touch him. In the corner of my eye I notice when the door opens and the sensei comes in to help the students, and I mentally note when he leaves. Zoro trains long after the others have gone home and the sensei starts another class.

Eventually Zoro stops training and rubs his face with a towel. He throws the towel over his shoulder and walks towards me as I try to control the feelings coursing through me. The way he can look so casual and laid back even after working for so long and sweating so much. The sweat glistens on his muscles and catches my attention even though I try my hardest not to look.

"Sorry I trained for so long, you must have been bored," he says as he stand in front of me, wiping himself with the towel.

"I-it's fine, I didn't mind," I stutter, trying to make sure my cheeks don't heat up. I glance around quickly to make sure no one is nearby before leaning up and pressing my lips against his urgently. He responds in kind, opening our mouths and fighting passionately with our tongues. My body responds urgently, the blood rushing through my veins hot and fast, my breathing becoming uneven and jagged and my limbs starting to sweat from the heat of his touch.

As we pull apart Zoro guides me by the waist out of the dojo and across the street to a house with a few boys fighting outside. As we walk through the door he pushes me towards the stairwell, speeding up a little.

"Ah, Zoro, you're home and who's this pretty lady with you?" a woman's cheerful voice chimes.

"Oh, you're home," Zoro says with a sigh, "this is Ko. Ko this is Sensei's wife. I live with them and a few of the other kids here." I nod and smile at the lady who is about my height.

"Nice to meet you," I say politely.

"Zoro mentioned you were coming, I remember now. Please come through to the dining room dinner is almost ready," she says before turning and walking past two boys who were fighting to get each other in a headlock.

Zoro nudges my back for me to follow her and I avoid the boys as I walk past, following her down the small hallway and into a large spacious room that looked to serve as a half kitchen- half dinning room. Zoro takes a seat at the large table and pulls me down next to him as he grabs a shirt and covers himself up. The lady makes herself busy in the kitchen as the two fighting boys start running around and around the table, still yelling at each other.

"I'm sorry this is such a mad house," Zoro says as he glares at the kids.

"It's fine, I don't mind," I say smiling at Zoro's death glare. The kids stop shouting and turn to look at me with a devilish look in their eyes.

"Neh, lady, are you Zoro's girlfriend?" one and the kids asks as he walks towards us. I laugh a little nervously and feel my cheeks start to warm.

"What are you talking about, she's far too young to be his girlfriend," the other kid protests.

"Actually we're the same age," I object, trying not to take offense and keep the smile on my face.

"you're joking right? You look about 12," the kid says laughing.

"At least I don't look 5 you little asshole," I say gritting my teeth and trying to keep the smile on my face.

"AHHH SHE'S SCARY," they both cry before rushing out of the room. Zoro chuckles and links his had through mine.

"I'm sorry about them, if it makes any difference I think you look our age," Zoro smirks at me. I let out an annoyed huff. "Hey don't be mad," his voice says quietly in my ear sending a shiver down my spine.

"I'm not," I look deeply into his eyes, captivated by the small blue pools and the dark blackness of his pupil.

"Dinner is ready!" Sensei's wife calls, snapping us out of our staring contest and the kids come running to take their seats around the table. Sensei comes in, smiling at Zoro and me as he sits. Zoro rubs his thumb against the back of my hand and it occurs to me that Zoro might be a little nervous too.

Once everyone is seated and the food is served, we start eating. I try to be as polite as possible while only using one hand. My other hand keeps a tight hold of Zoro's as I feel my nerves starting to boil under my skin. Even though Zoro is left handed, he still seems to be having trouble with eating with one hand.

"Wouldn't it be easier to eat with both hands Zoro?" Sensei comments and we both tense up.

"But Zoro's holding that girl's hand," one of the kids shouts. Zoro growls at the kid who shrinks back in his seat. Sensei and his wife start laughing which shocks me as I expected them to be a little angry.

"Well sorry for asking," Sensei chuckles. The kids look a little confused as they probably expected him to be a little angry too.

"So, Ko," Sensei starts to say, "you recently moved here didn't you?"

"Yes that's right," I say offering a small smile and trying to be as polite as possible.

"So where did you and your parents move to?" he smiles kindly at me.

"I'm actually staying with Makino down in Windmill Village."

"Your parents didn't come with you?"

"No, they move around a lot and wanted me to finish school in one place."

"I see, what do your parents do?"

My mind goes at a million miles an hour. If I tell them the truth, Sensei might be happy but Zoro and Luffy and the others would not. I can't tell the pirate crew that I want to join that my parents are marines! And not just any marines, my father is a marine vice-admiral. It's certainly not going to go down well, especially if they find out this way.

"Oh I'm sorry, I shouldn't pry into matters like that," Sensei back tracks as I remain in a silent internal dilemma. "Me and Zoro have a similar agreement here. I'm not Zoro's father, in fact the reason Zoro is here is because of a promise he made with my daughter, Kuina. He was pretty infatuated with her." The Sensei laughs but Zoro tenses up. This time it is my turn to rub my thumb against his hand comfortingly. "But I let Zoro stay here and train here as long as he finishes school."

"Stop embarrassing him, you know you wouldn't have it any other way, he's your best student," Sensei's wife protests.

"I know I know, I'm only teasing."

After dinner Zoro and I excuse ourselves from the table and he guides me upstairs. He walks along the corridor until he reaches the end room and he pauses to look back at me before we enter. Zoro's room is bare and unlived in. I cast my eyes around the room and see some weights here and there with a few bottles of sake on his desk, but the rest is empty. He coughs uncomfortably and looks around his own room like he's seeing it for the first time too.

"I never really spend a lot of time here," he says quietly like he's justifying it to himself and not just to me. I just smile and wrap my arms around his chest. He folds me into his arms pressing me against his chest and leaning down to push his lips against mine. My body flares with the fire from before and I respond to his kisses urgently. Zoro pushes his bedroom door shut and we walk towards his bed, our lips never breaking apart.

Zoro gently pushes me back onto the bed and climbs on top of me. Our tongues battle against each other as I tug the hem of his shirt up slowly. We break our kisses to pull Zoro's shirt over his head. I run my hands down the muscles of his chest and feel my body getting hotter. I kiss him again and flip him over so that I straddle his waist. I feel the bulge in his pants and smirk, stroking my hands over his chest again. He makes a small moan in the back of his throat. My body responds to the sound and my skin starts to burn where it touches his.

His hands fumble with the bottom of my shirt and he starts to lift it. I pull back from our kisses and let him take it off. He throws my shirt on the floor and his eyes scan my body with a look of want. His hands slowly stroke the skin of my waist and my back. I bend down, kissing him more and more, my body feverish under his touch. Goosebumps rising on my bare skin as my body suddenly feels too hot.

I snap my head round as I hear the sound of the door opening. Sensei stands at the door, a strange glint in his eye. For a second there is silence, me and Zoro, both shirtless, still in the same position, me on top of him while his hands rest on my back.

"I was just coming to see if you needed anything, but I guess you're fine," Sensei laughs as he closes the door. I push off Zoro, lying next to him on the bed. I let out a long, jagged breath.

"Well that killed the mood," Zoro sighs. I lean my head against his shoulder and look up at the ceiling. "Are you okay?" he asks, gently running a finger across my cheek. I nod gently and close my eyes.

"Zoro…" I start to say as I feel something bubbling in my chest and needing to get out, "This may be the hormones talking here, but I really, really like you." I keep my eyes shut trying to minimise the blush covering my cheeks.

"I really like you too," he says quietly. I feel his lips press down on mine before they trail down my neck. He nibbles and sucks on a spot on my neck and I bite my lip to stop any sounds escaping my mouth. "You're mine," he whispers against the tender skin. To my embarrassment I make a disgruntled groan.

He laughs and pulls back. I open one eye to look at the clock in the corner of the room, 7 o'clock. I sit up abruptly. "Crap I have to get back Makino will start getting worried," I say battling Zoro's hands as he tries to get me to stay on the bed with him .

"You can stay over if you like," he says with a seductive tone as I clamber off the bed and throw my shirt back on.

"While that is tempting, I'm going to say no," I say, bending down and pecking his lips, "come see me when you aren't training."

I quickly leave the room, Zoro following me down the stairs and to the door. He watches from the doorway as I walk away from his house and up the street. I turn just before he's out of sight and wave slightly at him. He waves back and goes back inside as I hurry down the dimming streets.

It's 9 o'clock when I get back to Makino's. "Sorry I'm so late home," I say as I start to help her work the bar.

"Don't worry about it Ko, you're allowed to have fun. You don't have to help here, I'm fine by myself."

"But," I start to protest before I'm cut of.

"I'm sure you have some homework to do or something I inist," Makino says as she gently but firmly pushes me out the door, "besides I don't allow workers with hickeys." I clutch my neck, remembering Zoro's actions after my little confession and I run upstairs a little I'm alone I lie on my bed, eyes closed, fingers resting my lips as I remember my time in Zoro's bedroom.

* * *

 **Am I too focused on the Zoro storyline? Yes. I'm going to be honest, I thought that being so far ahead would be better for my updates, but I just want to be writing the new storylines and not editing this. There's probably a couple of plot holes and things that can be better, but I just want to catch up. Maybe you'll think I'm lazy. You're probably right.**


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